Chicken

"This is one of the Moroccan tajines in Claudia Roden's lovely book, Arabesque. I've chipped little. It's sweet, so I like it served with couscous or rice that has had chopped preserved lemon tired through it as well as herbs). I need something fresh and sharp as a contrast,"

Serves 4-6

"In my next life, I want to be Moroccan.  I just love the cooking techniques, the spices, the tastes.  My elderly neighbour while I was growing up, Tovah, was Moroccan, and I'd often stop by her apartment to watch her cook (and to learn).  the ingredients used here are certainly ones that could be found in many of Tovah's dishes, but I've combined them in a new way.  The mint in particular adds freshness to what is otherwise a very rich dish."

This one was pretty good Michael!

This pasta will transport you - before you know it you'll be driving along the Baja coast, in a convertible with the top down, warm wind in your hair, the salt encrusted on your body. And you'll be thinking, "Why can't I be back home making Johanna and Mary Jo's Baja Lime Pasta ... NOT."

"A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook. For that reason feel free to stir your own ideas into this dish. When you cook it once, it becomes yours, so personalize it a bit. Add more of an ingredient you like or less of something you don't like. Try substituting one ingredient for another. Remember words have no flavour, you have to add your own!"

Grilled chicken is totally ubiquitous - it's on every menu and it's usually no big whoop. In fact, it's often boring. But this chicken is SOOOOO worth getting excited about! It's slathered in mustard, lemon, rosemary, and spicy crushed red pepper so it just titillates you palate with flavor. Then it's grilled until the outside is tangy, crusty, and crispy while the inside stays nice and moist. To make this as super-secy as possible, it's served with a perfectly charred and caramelized lemon half for an extra squeeze of flavor.